NJG Studios: ‘Desire’

In the new book designed by NJG Studio the early lives and art of Patti Smith & Robert Mapplethorpe are explored through the lucidly expressive and of-the-moment photography of Lloyd Ziff. ‘Desire’, depicts an era of impassioned cultural defiance in New York during 1968 and ’69. As the author Hunter S. Thompson put it, the end of the 60’s was the reluctant quelling of a bittersweet revolution, he mused that “you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back”. Now, with the release of ‘Desire’ this movement can be seen through the eyes of some of the icons of the time.

With over 65 unpublished works and many New York street photos over 128 pages in a hardback cover, ‘Desire’ comes fittingly housed in a hand-sewn paper bag. There will only be 600 copies of ‘Desire’ published with 100 of them being marked ‘Strictly Limited Edition’. Robert Mapplethorpe counts amongst the most critically acclaimed artists of the late twentieth century. Most notably, Mapplethorpe is known for his black-and-white portrait photography and his documentation of New York’s S&M scene in the late 70s. Artistic freedoms were alive in Smith and Mapplethorpe during the end of the 60’s, Ziff captures their knack for never quite fitting in or complying with authority and capitalism. Their natural disposition was to being outstanding, Ziff captures these dying embers as they burned their brightest. www.njgstudio.com

Art

Osservatorio Fondazione Prada: “Training Humans”

Fondazione Prada will host the first major photography exhibition dedicated to bettering our understanding of the images gathered and used to train A.I. technologies. Artificial Intelligence is talked about frequently and superstitions surrounding new tech are mounting. Two highly contemplative and knowledgeable scholars will host “Training Humans”, held at Galleria Vittorio II in Milan. Kate Crawford, distinguished New York University professor and widely published A.I. researcher, along with artist, futurist, and researcher Trevor Paglen who has been exhibited from the Smithsonian to the Guggenheim. Their exhibition is an interrogation of the training practices used to categorically define the human race through the eyes of artificial intelligence.

When the CIA first conducted facial recognition experiments, in 1963, they compiled a total of 14,126 images with which to set a benchmark for machine learning. “Training Humans” explores two issues fundamental to humanity and its freedoms. The photography on display will expose to human eyes how humans are represented, interpreted and how technological systems harvest, label and use this material. The intention of “Training Humans” is not to imagine some not-too-distant dystopia; it is to specify to a concerned public exactly which images are chosen to teach A.I. Because of the Internet and the integration of social media into our every day the AI researchers moved from using government-owned collections, such as FBI mug shots of dead criminals, to sourcing photos from anywhere they chose to.

In our infinite complexities, authorities seem desperate to teach machines how to understand us in simple terms. The moral quandary of this is how far they will go to put humanity in a box, to remove the unpredictable, the wild, the life we share that machines cannot yet understand.

“Training Humans” is open to the public from September 12th to the 24th of February 2020

Lovingly Renovated: The Cranford Collection

The Cranford Collection is the most prized collection of art in Europe; nearly 700 works of fine art live in a residential building in Regent’s Park, London. The collection rotates every 18 months under the expert curatorship of Anne Pontégnie, who has been the guiding force behind the collection since 2011. The Cranford Collection exemplifies how art might be seen with fresh eyes in an intimate setting undistracted by any impinging tones set by the impossibly high glass ceilings and large slabs of bedrock found in most other museums. Architecture has a profound effect on the way art is viewed; The Cranford Collection explores the notion that all artworks are at the mercy of the placid walls they adorn.

The Cranford Collection is home to masterpieces by Bruce Nauman, Louis Bourgeois, Alice Neel and many others. The residential location at Gloucester Gate is fresh off the heels of its recent renovation by London based architect, David Chipperfield. The original building was designed by John Nash, one of Great Britain’s foremost architects responsible for the lasting neo-classical elements of England’s Regency and Georgian eras. The essential style of the building has been retained while the space itself has expanded to suit the needs of artists in pursuit of bettering their work. MFA students can now attend talks and discussions, school groups can tour by appointment and the esteemed residential gallery will host film screenings. The Cranford Collection’s collaboration with the Camden Arts Centre ensures artists can apply for residency or publishing of art books. The private gallery has been lovingly expanded to make up and coming artists feel right at home.

Implicit Tensions: Mapplethrope Now

Robert Mapplethrope counts amongst the most critically acclaimed artists of the late twentieth century. Most notably, Mapplethrope is known for his black-and-white portrait photography and his documentation of New York’s S&M scene in the late 70s. His provocative images were never created with the purpose to shock, but out of a curiosity to explore and showcase the unknown. For the 30th anniversary of his passing, the Guggenheim Museum dedicates a yearlong, two-part exhibition to Mapplethorpe’s groundbreaking work, which deliberately kept challenging the social norms of the time.

Whereas the first phase of Explicit Tensions showcased the Guggenheim’s large collection of Mapplethrope’s work, the second part is focussed on the artist’s lasting legacy. In the ensuing decades, Mapplethorpe’s treatment of under-represented communities and homoerotic desire have raised questions about the agency of the photographic subject and initiated complex conversations about the fine line separating representation and objectification.

To honor Mapplethorpe’s critical contributions, the Guggenheim showcases the work of six artists, that engage various approaches of exploring identity through the medium of photography. The six chosen artists were Lyle Ashton Harris, Glenn Ligon, Zanele Muholi, Catherine Opie and Paul Mpagi Sepuya.

The second part of Implicit Tensions: Mapplethrope Now will be open to the public from July 24, 2019 until January 5, 2020.

Cindy Sherman at the National Portrait Gallery

Without any doubt, Cindy Sherman is one of the most influential artists in contemporary art, with a career spanning from the mid-‘70s to the present. In her photographs, she explores artistic manipulation of self-appearance and photography’s complex relationship between façade and identity, which, in the world of social media, seems more relevant than ever.

In an eponymous exhibition, comprising around 180 of her images, the National Portrait Gallery presents a major retrospective on Cindy Sherman’s career. Central to the exhibition is the critically acclaimed series, Untitled Film Stills, which is shown to the UK public for the first time. This series, realized between 1977 and 1980, is Cindy Sherman’s first artistic work, commenced shortly after her move to New York. In 70 images, whose overall flair is heavily inspired by the staged aesthetic of ‘50s and ‘60s Hollywood, as well as film noir and European art-house film, Sherman captures fictional situation, inspired by the conventions of yesterday’s cinema. Cindy Sherman truly was an image creator. She did not only assume the role as photographer, but also model, set designer and hair and makeup artist.

Through sharp observation, her work scrutinizes contemporary life and exposes it as a world of pure appearance, denouncing all its facades and deceptions.

The exhibition Cindy Sherman will be open to the public from 27 June to 15 September at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Dirty Socks

The creative mind works differently sometimes. It manages to find extraordinary beauty in the most mundane objects and settings and transform them into artistic expression. Nordic duo Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, collaborating since 1995, have time after time investigated this sculptural dimension of the most quotidian objects.

In their latest exploit, titled Dirty Socks, they prove that even our dirty socks, detached of their utility and radically recontextualized, can evolve into an artistic sculpture. Showcased on only a gilded lower body, crossing its legs, the white socks become the visual focal point.

Dirty Socks will be on show with the König Galerie at Art Basel from June 13th to June 16th.

The cure

Entitled THE CURE (HEAVENLY PIE(A)CES), the new Richard Yasmine collection is an assortment of unconventional, serene yet hypnotizing white on white blended set up. For Yasmine, the concept is always the focus. Conceived as an experimental installation, THE CURE reads as an interpretation of our inner spiritual substance with a deep therapeutic message associated with the notion of time and the philosophy of karma with its idea of renaissance after each failure moment creating an influential emotional charge reflecting forgiveness and self-reconciliation. Yasmine’s collection is made of white powder coated aluminum structures combined with other materials such as brass, neo-cement, suede, Carrara marble and couture handmade embroidery with beads pearls and silk. It includes an armchair, a pendulum clock and a wall mounted lighting fixture. Each piece has a special significance related to the theme, Yasmine explains: “The armchair’s back is in a Headstone silhouette with a message of destiny and regeneration. The pendulum clock corresponds to time and how to catch the moment before it’s too late, yet it shows there is always brightness and hope at the end of the darkness. Third element is a wall-mounted light represented by a halo or an aureole with rays of light in a circular shape symbolizing the majesty or prominence of the soul.”

ES Exhibition - JOHAN TAHON, TILL LINDEMANN, SANDOR LUBBE

‘The collective unconscious consists of the sum of the instincts and their correlates, the archetypes. Just as everybody possesses instincts, so he also possesses a stock of archetypal images.’ - CARL GUSTAV JUNG

Following on from the mighty success of the 2018 retrospective exhibition at the Bonnefanten Museum in the Netherlands ‘Wir uberleben das Licht’, which documented Belgium visual artist Johan Tahon’s career exploring the physical and the philosophical through the art form of sculpting, New York now hosts ES.

From 29th March through to the 18th May 2019, a unique opportunity to experience the work of Johan Tahon and his collaborations presents itself to the public. Sculpture, poetry and photography all coalesce to form an immersive, united exhibition.

Sharing the same sensibilities and sentiments as Johan Tahon, German frontman Till Lindermann of Rammstein has specifically written poems to accompany the exhibition. Our editor-in-chief Sandor Lubbe’s photography also plays a part alongside Tahon’s pieces, the culmination from which ES has developed.

Wednesday to Saturday 18:00-20:00 at 87 Rivington Street, New York, the exhibition at 'Empirical Nonsense' runs from 29th – 18th May 2019.

The Visual Spheres of Günter Rössler

Günter Rössler is one of the early leading Eastern bloc photographers that exposed the everyday life of the DDR. At a time that was characterized by scarcity and limited access to cultural influences, in particular Western pop culture, Rössler developed his own autonomous signature. He represented the DDR with a typical aesthetic that not only told the story but also made it feel as though you are part of it.

Günter Rössler studied photography at the Academy of Fine Arts in Leipzig. In 1951 he started his empire as a freelance fashion and journalistic photographer. His work intriguingly told the various stories about the DDR’s social life. After a number of years, Rössler started to focus on fashion photography and grew into a true pioneer. His authentic and spontaneous approach created exceptional photographs that told a personal story and at the same time expressed a certain aesthetic.

The work has been published for years in East Germany's leading fashion magazine, Sibylle. In 1981 Rössler was admitted to the Verband Bildender Künstler der DDR (Association of visual artists of the DDR). In 1996 he also became a member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie (German Association for Photography). After his breakthrough as a fashion photographer, Rössler became one of the pioneers that introduced nude photography as a movement in modern art within the walls of the DDR. His first solo exhibition in 1979 presented in the Kunsthaus Grimma had a big impact. His nude models were exposed as strong natural women with a lot of self-confidence, which made them seem almost sculptural. Rössler's signature was in contrast with the standards of Western nude photography, which was less subtly produced. His work has depth and went beyond merely showing a naked woman. His work was therefore also noticed outside the walls of the DDR, magazines such as Fotographie, Fotokino-Magazin, Das Magazin, Modische Maschen, and even Playboy published it regularly.

After an impressive career as photographer and artist, Günter Rössler died in 2012. He left a memorable oeuvre behind that will always be remembered as one of the leading signatures in German photography. APITIS Studios / Berlin is therefore presenting ‘Akt und Mode’, an exhibition that covers his most important visual spheres through the years.

‘Akt und Mode’ is presented in APITIS Studios in Berlin from 15 February until 28 April 2019 and has free access.

The Process of Existence

Art duo Vera Lehndorff and Holger Trülzsch have opposite backgrounds, but when they coalesce, an interesting socially critical manifesto emerges. Lehndorff, better known as “Veruschka” was a fashion model and developed through her career a critical view on the human body as a whole. Trülzsch started to look for social limits at the student movement in Munich during the sixties, where he mainly questioned art, music and politics.

Both were fascinated by the idea of "transformation", a concept that caused a lot of commotion in the 70s and 80s. Through bodypainting and photography, the duo challenged the media to mix traditional roles and question them instead of merely embodying and emphasizing them. Veruschka redefined the expectations of her as a regular model, she didn’t portray just one common version she transformed and hid herself beneath many.

Their work created a counter-reaction against the norms of capitalist society, especially the strict standards of beauty and presentation. The duo converted existing art methods into new symbolic expressional forms, with which they presented the complex stages of the human existence process in a new and less conventional way.

The sixties, seventies and eighties were times of change, and the work of Vera and Holger contributed with great success. They were criticized and rejected, but today their ideals are used as inspiration, that is why the SR Contemporary Art gallery in Berlin now officially display these leading controversial artworks.

Italian elegance in the big city

In the heart of Manhattan, at 160 Madison Avenue, a modern and unique store is opening its doors. This is the first Flagship Store of Moteni&C, Dada, and UniFor, joining forces to project the classic and elegant Italian style into New York City. A collaboration between aesthetic and cultural harmony mixed with personality and imagination.

Showcasing the concept of a modern art collector’s house, the store hosts a collection of works by contemporary artists. Discover monochrome sculptures by Santo Tolone and pop hieroglyphics by Stephen Felton alongside the works of young artists.

Designed by Vincent van Duysen, the store also creates a platform to support artists in the height of their creativity that will be presented at the Molteni Museum.

Art

Prada collaborates with Francesco Vezzoli for “Opera Pompidou”

The Italian artist Francesco Vezzoli is internationally well-known for mirroring the glamour of Hollywood in his unsaleable paintings. Now he partnered up with the fashion house Prada to produce the twelve costumes for the “Opera Pompidou” live performance, which was presented in the Centre Pompidou on the 19th October. The reason for this unique project was the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the museum for arts and culture in the heart of Paris. The Italian artist’s visionary world of elaborate references intertwines with the collection of the museumto create a series of special live art performances staged by Vezzoli. Each artist was wearing a costume made by Prada which references to the art work and brings it to life. In this totally emotional reinterpretation of the modern and contemporary collections of Centre Pompidou, the visitor finds himself in a new immersive experience.

Michaël Borremans Dances at Zeno X

Michael Borremans has launched his sixth solo exhibition at Zeno X, a Mecca of contemporary painting in the heart of Antwerp, Belgium. Sixteen Dances, the title of the show, is primarily a reference to the changing and multi-faceted nature of painting, and how the medium has the ability to forever adapt to the contemporary zeitgeist.

The paintings are structured into three series: this is a typical way of working for Borremans, who has a necessity to always dig deeper and discover new meaning through multiple variations of the same theme. The paintings function almost as vignettes, which give the exhibition a cinematic feel: a clear continuum is interrupted by random stills which confuse any possible narrative structure. This gives an ambiguous and dark atmosphere, encapsulating the morbid and grotesque scenes present in the paintings, such as babies dancing covered in blood and figures in straight jackets. Borremans undoubtedly takes references from Bosch, Bruegel and Goya in this series of works, which questions the morality of human nature and exploits its subconscious savagery and cannibalism. While absorbing these haunted tableaux, viewers are left feeling dread and disorientation: a feeling that permeates in our current age and society.

The exhibition will run until October 14th 2017.

Art

Iris Schomaker – Come to the Edge

Berlin based artist Iris Schomaker, will display her first Benelux exhibition “Come to the Edge” at the Reflex Gallery in Amsterdam showing off her expressive large-scale watercolor and oil-works on paper featuring figures in various states of repose.

The show will consist purely of new works representing an arresting close-up of a single figure, lying reading, resting, sitting curled up, unaware of the viewer’s gaze because “it’s more like a sudden glimpse-something unexpected. These figures do not offer contact. Their faces are blank, vanishing.” As the artist herself said.

Is exactly this blankness that took Iris to project on to the image looking at the very anonymity of those faces as an invitation to the viewers to bring something of their own being surrounded by powerfully immersive and contemplative figures. Moreover the figures in the newer works from the German artist are often accompanied by a symbolic animal that is more idea, atmosphere, and energy, more a sprit guide that brings a strange, irritating and inspiring energy rather than a flesh and bones companion.

In muted shades of black and grey, with only the thinnest veil of oil wash in faded aquamarine or yellow, the overall impression of the palette is decidedly monochrome. The figures are resolutely not portraits; the final creation is given by a work of research through images of unknown people like photos, sketches, ripped pages of magazines, combined with her drawing and creativity, in order to give birth to an incredible mix between classic paintings and current graphic novels.

Cartier: Crystallization of Time

Stare long enough at any rock, gemstone or mineral and you will see the beauty in natural formations once hidden beneath the Earth’s 4.6 billion year old crust. Since 1989 Cartier has held no less than thirty four exhibitions in world-renowned art museums but only now will they host an exhibition focused on contemporary pieces spanning from the 1970’s onwards. The purpose of the exhibition is to explore the perennial beauty of Cartier creations, a classic beauty retained and untarnished by the ravages of time. Aptly titled, ‘Crystallization of Time’ the legendary Jeweller will hold the exhibition at The National Art Center of Tokyo to explore the relationship between their creations over time. Up to 300 works, including contributions from private collections, act as mirrors that offer an astute insight into the eras and evolutions of Cartier. Beyond this exhibition of their past ‘Crystallization of Time’ will foreshadow Cartier’s vision for the future. The exhibition will be presented in three unique perspectives including, ‘Material Transformation and Colors’, ‘Forms and Designs’ and ‘Universal Curiosity’ along the axis of time. ‘Forms and Designs’ will explore the micro-architectural nature of their design ethos as well as their use of essential lines and spheres to create unique and iconic jewellery.

In large part refusing to conform or settle is what adds to their timeless qualities, the essence that there is nothing quite like Cartier on the market. As the second act on their timeline, ‘Forms and Designs’ will feature ‘Harmony of Chaos: Accident of Design / Accident of Nature’ which seeks to explore how life’s happenstance adds to our understanding of beauty. In 1967, when Cartier London released the Crash watch, they implored this design quality, the end product being a watch whose case had the appearance of being run over by a car. As gemstones are naturally formed there is an element of random natural occurrence that takes place as the rocks form, from this Cartier explored how to capture the unpredictable while still producing a fashionable product. The exhibition will also play host to a number of rare pieces from private collections, some pieces dating back as far as 1907. The scope of this exhibition can not be understated, from Nils Herrman’s Cartier collection Egyptian motifs resurface; a greater dialogue with our past is opened up through timeless designs, a Scarab brooch brandishing rubies, emeralds, platinum and antique blue faience alongside a Scarab necklace in yellow gold date back to 1925.

Cartier’s ‘Crystallization of Time’ is exactly what it claims to be, reinforced and hardened into something beyond reproach; displaying the opulence and dedication to lasting quality that Cartier is unabashedly known for. The exhibition will run from October 2nd – December 16 at The National Art Center, Tokyo.

Miron Zownir: 'City Landscapes'

In his upcoming solo exhibition ‘City landscapes’ Miron Zwonir, celebrated international documentary photographer, will put his usual focus into the background. Social outcasts, by choice or through disadvantage, are now only incidental subjects in the frying pan of a harsh metropolis bursting at the seams. The dark prince of noir photography will bring a cross section of over forty years of photography to Galerie Bene Taschen. The German-Ukrainian photographer lives in a world of contrast where repression and destruction guide the eye in a re-education of cities as a background for all change that people encounter within themselves. The strange creatures and tall shadows cast by streetlamps are products of their city, but ultimately never defined by them. Resilient and fervid throughout Zownir’s body of work are the fringe cultures set adrift in maddening urbanity.

Cities like Los Angeles, New York, Berlin or ones in Eastern Europe all beg similar questions. How does one exist in any of these environments and retain a strong sense of self? Zownir’s metropolises are on a merry-go-round of destruction, creation and somewhere in the chaos, transformation. Miron Zownir has been displayed in group and solo exhibitions at Bene Taschen before but never as cohesively as this. The gallery will display his most impactful photography including excerpts from his book ‘RIP NYC’ and scenes from his series ’Berlin Noir’. The very definition of normality and what it means to be you will be in question, leaving visitors with contrasting feelings on society at large as they depart. You can see more of this radical international photographer’s work in Cologne from September 7th until October 12th at Galerie Bene Taschen with an early reception on the 6th.

William Blake Reborn in New Tate Britain Exhibition

The largest exhibition of the artist William Blake, known foremost for his writing and then for his prophetic, dazzling and even terrifying works of art that were sorely overlooked during his lifetime, will now consume Tate Britain. The life of William Blake is one of fraught political angst, he offered the antithesis to the harsh rule of the church of England, paving a way forward for philosophers, artists, anyone that sought to explain in their own terms what it meant to be alive outside of religious definition. His vision was larger than his time allowed.

This artist, poet and author, will claim his day in the sun in a manner never before seen in Great Britain. Some of his best-known paintings including ‘Newton’ (1795 - c. 1805) and ‘The Ancient of Days’ (1827) which later became a frontispiece for an edition of ‘Europe: A Prophecy”, the artists final painting. The quaint domestic room above his family’s hosiery shop, in which his art saw its only real exhibition in the year 1809, will be reconstructed in great detail to offer guests an authentic sense of how his art was displayed in his time. The exhibition hopes to provide a biographical framework with which to better understand Blake, even highlighting the vital influence of his wife Catherine, who offered practical assistance and even coloration for his illuminated books.

With over 300 original works including prints, watercolours and paintings, this is the largest showing of Blake’s work in the last two decades. Two of his works ‘The Spiritual Form of Nelson Guiding Leviathan’ (c. 1805-9) and ‘The Spiritual Form of Pitt Guiding Behemoth c. 1805) will be projected onto an enormous wall in the grand sense that Blake had imagined. Tate intends to reintroduce Blake to the public using modern techniques. From the 11th of September until February next year this wide range of the artist’s work will live at Tate Britain.

John M Armleder CA.CA.

John M Armleder has never accepted the traditional boundaries of the different artistic disciplines. Regarded as one of the most influential concept, performance and object artists of the modern era, Armleder’s playful approach to artistic expression draws inspiration from a wide variety of sources, influential art movements, such as Modernism, Constructivism and Op-Art, as well as design, painting and pop culture.

Time after time, Armleder combines familiar tropes from art history with modern day items, commenting on our reality and the state of art itself. This juxtaposition of opposites runs like a red thread throughout his work, planning is faced by coincidence, profundity is shown alongside frivolity, exploring what art could and should be in an ever-changing cultural setting.

Both inside and outside the Schirn Kunsthalle, Armleder shows a number of specially created installations alongside some of his previous works. The freely accessible Rotunda is transformed into a life-sized installation by mounting twenty disco balls in different heights, capturing their reflections in the windows covered in mirror film.

John Armleder presents his seductive approach to Conceptual Art and stimulates the critical mind as well as the senses.

The exhibition will be open to the public until September 1st at the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt.

Fondation Louis Vuitton: Charlotte Perriand

Charlotte Perriand was one of the most influential figures in 20th-century design. This truly visionary woman stands at the origins of a distinctly modern art de vivre, whilst at the same time helping to redefine the relationships between the arts themselves. Her work was a reaction to the shifting social and political climate of the time, embodying the transition from outdated traditions of the 19th century to the 20th century’s urban living.

In honor of the 20th anniversary of her passing, the Fondation Louis Vuitton dedicates a major exhibition to her forward-facing work. They explore her impact on modernity and her perception of a ‘synthesis of the arts’, a link between the different disciplines and the influences they share. The Foundation consecrates all of its ten galleries to invite its guests to a journey through the 20th century, in the company of a truly pioneering artist.

Each of the different galleries recognizes one aspect of her broad range of work, spanning from her contributions to design and architecture to her political engagement. This is a unique opportunity to engage with the roots of modernity thanks to meticulously researched and faith reconstitutions.

The exhibition is open to the public from October 2nd, 2019 to February 24th, 2020 at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.

Sumo and the three boys from Pasadena

The Helmut Newton Foundation unveils its new exhibition, combining the photographic work ''SUMO'' of Helmut Newton, his private collection, developed with his wife June Newtown and Three Boys From Pasadena by his three apprentices Mark Arbeit, George Holz and Just Loomis.

Newton’s masterpiece SUMO was created 20 years ago and first exhibited a decade later. Consisting of 400 iconic images, from the genres fashion, portraiture and nudes in black and white and colour, they include, to only mention a few, his famous portraits of artists like Salvadór Dalí and Andy Warhol as well as his work for various magazines, like Vogue or Vanity Fair.

His three apprentices augment their Three Boys From Pasadena, created ten years ago, with new works. The additions are a combination of life-sized photograms of models by Mark Areit, Hollywood portraits of legends by George Holz and intimate ‘Backstage’ works, showcasing the hidden, less glamorous facets of fashion, by Just Loomis.

Furthermore, we are offered an insight into the couple’s exquisite photo collection, featuring 50 valuable vintage prints in original frame of the 20th century’s most influential and important photographers.

The exhibition opens on the 6th of June at the Helmut Newton Foundation in Berlin.

Art

Anthropometry

One year after his passing, multifaceted artist Getulio Alviani, pioneer in the movement of kinetic art and Op-Art, was celebrated in the framework of the 58th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. In the spirit of Alviani’s vision, the Palazzo Barbaro on the Grand Canal is transformed into an interdisciplinary exhibition Anthropometry combining art, fashion, jewelry music and theatrical performance, perfectly staged during the opening vernissage featuring live performances of Brazilian actress Lìgia Cortez and famous eclectic virtuoso Olen Cesari.

The dress “Cerchio + Quadrato” worn during Cortez’s performance shows that Alviani’s collaborations in the field of fashion, springing from the research of avant-garde materials and technologies, with designer Germana Marucelli are one of the focal points. By applying his visual experimentations with light and optical illusions to sartorial endeavours, designer Marucelli constructs wearable pieces of art, transforming and evolving with movement and in relation to the body that wears them.

The exhibition is open to the public until the 30th of May in the Palazzo Barbaro in Venice.

Art

Spotlight

Sawaru is the new project from Flos that does away with excess and focusses on simple, compact devices that provide a clean aesthetic and simple functionality. A LED light source cylinder 43cm in length and 13 cm in diameter, Sawaru is constructed from aluminum and is available in finishes from black and white to bright gold and blue gray.

Two independent cylinders restfully lean up against one another for support, intercepting at a perpendicular angle; one acting as the supportive base and the other as a light source shooting out a beaming spotlight. The angle can be modified to the individual’s taste in three different stages – 25, 40 and 60, simply by inserting a pin attached to the base. Once again, Flos proves its commitment to designs that are user intuitive and simple; minimal in appearance and minimal in hassle.

The dimmer pedal regulates the intensity of the light and the color temperature, warm and cold, and one’s ideal combinations can be set by keeping the pedal pressed down. The LED indicators on the pedal supply information about the status of the light source.

Free speech and freedom of public expression are an ever returning and essential element in human life. In order to live alongside each other, it is always necessary to keep searching for a way to live next to each other. Interacting means developing. By “picking” interactions as a human being, you choose to connect, which means blending yourself with the public and private.

This artwork was developed in response to current relationships between politics and multi-media. Communication contains so many layers today, layers within which humanity needs to wonder whether there is still real freedom of speech within the use and especially abuse of media.

The individual partakes in the interaction process, subconsciously searching for individual meaning and with that, the possible connotations of their own personal intimacy. Interaction arises from people responding to the social and political happenings around them, becoming more sensitive and their psyche becoming more aware.

The way people are connected to online social channels today and how they interact to one another is a tendency that determines a whole new order in communication. Users develop an extraordinary urge for connection, which often seems to be in conflict with their personal boundaries. Questions about identity arise and create an inner intimate crisis. The media has been a dominant middleman for a long time, and has become even more powerful due to the rise of social media platforms. These channels do not only report and interpret the news. Interaction is unfiltered and not viewed in light of context. This creates a solid breeding ground for fake-news and the manipulation of public opinion resulting in an overly sensitive personal psyche.

Online communication results in a contrasting combat between dedication and discarding, visibility and anonymity. The collective reaction to this has resulted in people challenging each other in a hostile manner. Users dare not express their real desires in this uncertain, undetermined environment where only roles are adopted, instead of real personalities. “Intimacy” is central in this collection; it conveys a need for demarcation from outside space and ‘The Other’, for retreat and silence, so as to be able to recognize and describe one’s own personal self.

New Flagship store Molteni&C | Dada in London

This month the Molteni group opened its third global brand showcase in contemporary number one design city; London. This high-end artistic design venue is applicably situated against the famous V&A design museum in the heart of Chelsea. Creative director Vincent Van Duysen has succeeded in creating a unique quiet moment in such a vibrant city. This new store represents a romantic life full of Italian flair, propagated in an "ordinary" looking house with two levels divided into many different zones.

To start with an impressive entrance, built on an inner door opens onto two floor-to-ceiling glass. Then you arrive at an iconic spiral staircase made out of walnut wooden and marble steps. Van Duysen made some sensational stylistic choices like the winter gardens brimming with all sorts of luxurious plants. This place is characterized by the theme of alternating perceptions that emerge in the surprising color and texture palette travertine marble and Korean walnut executed in various shades of gold and warm and bone greys.

This space is gracious, welcoming, dimensional and fluid thanks to the innovative distinctive details that will display the collections of designers such as Vincent van Duysen, Rodolfo Dordoni, Ron Gilad, Foster + Partners, Jean Nouvel and Patricia Urquiola and many others each in their own unique way.

To celebrate the opening, the new London Flagship Store will display a series of works by contemporary artists that develop The Collector’s House project, a concept presented at the 2018 Salone del Mobile and, subsequently, in the New York Flagship inaugurated last May. The Collector’s House, curated by art curator Caroline Corbetta, is an ideal collection that contributes to creating an ecosystem in which design and art enhance each other. Some designers that contribute are: Giuseppe Buzzotta (1983); Alessandro Dandini de Sylva (1981), Cleo Fariselli (1982), Emiliano Maggi (1977) Matteo Nasini (1976) and Vincenzo Schillaci (1984) are the six young Italian artists, represented by Rome’s Galleria Operativa.

Ballenesque — A Retrospective by Roger Ballen

With its probing, challenging images between painting, drawing, photography and installation, the work of American art photographer Roger Ballen is one of a kind. He was born in New York in 1950 but has lived and worked in South Africa for over 30 years and is often named as one of the world’s greatest art photographers. The term Ballenesque, which is already a firm part of the lexicon, is synonymous with his rich monochrome vision, psychological insights and constant reinvention.

His work is being displayed in the permanent collections of some of the best art institutions such as MoMa in New York, Tate Britain in London, Stedelijk Museum and Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Reflex Gallery in Amsterdam is hosting a double-sided exhibition of Ballen’s art, comprising a mini retrospective of 30 works and a selection of 150 Polaroid images. These constitute the first display of color images by the artist during his entire career and offer the opportunity to own an original Roger Ballen image in the form of a Polaroid. The exhibition will be open from the 23rd November until the 30th December 2017.

FENDI announces partnership with Galleria Borghese

The Italian fashion house Fendi has always had a strong connection to Rome and the fine arts. It all started, amongst others, with the restauration of the Trevi Fountain in 2015, followed by the opening of the first floor of Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana to the public, where Fendi’s headquarters are now. The brand recently announced a three-year-partnership with the prestigious Galleria Borghese in Rome, which is guarding the most relevant and best preserved paintings by Italian painter Caravaggio. Hence Fendi will be supporting the Caravaggio Research Institute, which sees the constitution at Galleria Borghese as a center of studies, diagnostics and artistic-historical research aiming to become a primary reference. To spread the word about the project, Fendi and the Galleria Borghese created an exhibition on the artist which will be taking place all over the world at the most high-end-venues. However, the first exhibiton that Fendi will be supporting is the “solo one”, which is dedicated to Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the most representative artist of the Baroque period in Rome. The exhibition will be inaugurated on the 31st of October and will be open to the public from November 1st 2017 to February 4th 2018.

Lunar Garden

"After spending many years traveling to Japan I became fascinated with the dry gardens in Kyoto, specifically the way in which the gardens are permanent yet completely ephemeral and remade every day,” said Daniel Arsham, an american artist who studied at the Cooper Union in New York. His new solo exhibition is on view at Visionaire in New York until the 5th of November.

The work, titled “Lunar Garden,” is a combination of architecture, sound, and an immersive environment that reinterprets the traditional Japanese rock garden: surreal and dreamlike, Arsham’s oasis uses a vibrant pink color scheme, features a moon-like orb spanning 3 meters, and peculiar patterns in the sand that the artist freshly rakes every day. Traditional greenery, such as the bonsai, has been replaced by a petrified tree and a lantern. For Arsham, the use of color is a new experiment. Previously, he has relied on a palette of black, white and gray tones. The reason for this shift is that Arsham is colorblind, but has recently been able to see vibrant colors thanks to special glasses: the radical change is his sense of sight and perception of color has prompted an important new visual language for the artist which can be witnessed for the first time in “Lunar Garden.”

Art

Bottega Veneta and SCoP: when fashion supports art

Tomas Maier, Bottega Veneta’s creative director, has never hid his passion for art, making it a proper flagship of the Venetian brand’s attitude. Bottega Veneta showed for the first time its strong commitment to art and culture in 2001, when Maier introduced the “Art of Collaboration”: an ongoing project which invites photographers and visual artists in order to reflect brand’s aesthetic inside its campaigns.

This year the brand confirms its ever-lasting addiction to art, partnering with the Shanghai Centre of Photography in order to support four key international exhibitions hold at the most prestigious photography institute in China. SCoP is indeed considered worldwide the city’s very first place entirely dedicated to photography showcasing its best and diverse genres.

“Made in Germany: German photography from the 19th century to today” will be the first exhibition supported by Bottega Veneta. The projects will comprises an unparalleled selection of iconic masterpieces that together with contemporary examples will give an up-to-date and fresh touch to the entire exhibition.

Montblanc de la Culture Patronage Award 2019

The Montblanc Cultural Foundation has been honoring patrons of art around the world since 1992. The Montblanc de la Culture Patronage Award is given to patrons of the art world that contribute greatly to an enlightened public. This year in Germany the award was bestowed to Dr. Michael Haerdter, founder of Künstlerhaus Bethanien and director until the turn of the century. His award was graciously accepted on his behalf by Christoph Tannert, one half of the Künstlerhaus Bethanien’s managing directors. Tannert cheerfully remarked “the fact that we have won the Montblanc de la Culture Patronage Award 2019 is a great honor for us and a very special tribute to our work.”

Dr. Haerdter has underlined the importance of artists communicating through a higher medium than just verbal discussion, he has forged a generous amount of space in which rising artists can express their unique world view.“We are really delighted to celebrate this year’s Montblanc de la Culture Patronage Awards at Ku?nstlerhaus Bethanien, such as extraordinary and international center of art,” says Elvir Johic, managing director of Montblanc Germany and Northern Europe.

After introductions and speeches from Elvir Johic, Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath the win was celebrated greatly in Berlin where Montblanc hosted a party for people to celebrate and dance long into the night in recognition of Dr. Haerdter’s pivotal cultural contribution. Montblanc’s theme for the party echoed the Bethanien’s current exhibition, "Milchstraßenverkehrsordnung", “Space is the Place”. More than 150 members of the German arts and culture scene were in attendance for the ceremony and festivities. Thanks to the Montblanc Cultural Foundation this particular exhibition was supported with accompanying prize money of €15,000.

Kreuzberg’s Künstlerhaus Bethanien hosts a diverse group of artists through its ‘Artist-in-Residence’ program with 25 studios in which artists can refine their craft and truly flourish. The facilities also include an enormous basement for exhibition facilities. The contemporary visual arts venue and workspaces pioneered by Dr. Haerdter are an exceptional home for art.

Rinus van de Velde Special Edition Stamp

It might have been a while since you last put a stamp on an actual letter before posting it. It is true that traditional mail has found itself largely replaced by e-mails and other means of electronic communication, making letters and stamps artifacts of the past.

Despite having lost most of their daily use, stamps remain a desired collector’s item, a prized artifact defined by its beauty and historical significance. Their illustrations are gateways to a different time, a snapshot of the period’s social and political realities, depicting an important event, institution or person that have become recognizable symbols of the issuing nation’s traditional heritage.

The Belgian Post pays homage to Rinus van de Velde, dedicating a special stamp to the Belgian artist. The stamp depicting a charcoal self-portrait is a recognition of his invaluable input to the Belgian art scene and his contributions to elevating it onto the global stage. It might seem insignificant at first, but these stamps will be a lasting witness of the national importance of van de Velde’s artistic endeavors, cherished by a nation and a global audience alike.

The World's True Protagonist

Cartier, world-renowned jeweler, is starting a dialogue with environmentally conscious speakers, artists, philosophers and academics in an exhibition dubbed "TREES". This exhibition offers a long awaited chance for the humanity of such an issue to be unfettered by political inaction. Artistic contributions from Latin America, Iran, the United States and European nations reinforce a shared goal and the global unity necessary to progress. Vital and intimately connected to the issue, "TREES" provides a platform for Indigenous representatives like the Nivaclé and Guarani of Gran Chaco (Paraguay) as well as the Yanomami Indians who live in the heart of the Amazonian forest. It is through Foundation Cartier's platform these voices can urge and advocate for the conservation and protection of the Amazon rainforest. Trees, the gentle giants so unassuming yet crucial to life on Earth, provide sanctity to humans and deserve sanctity from industrialism. The relationship between humans and trees will be thoroughly explored in a film by Raymond Depardon.

"TREES" will be curated by Hervé Chandès, Isabelle Gaudefroy and anthropologist, Bruce Albert, a long time companion of the foundation since Cartier's exhibition "Yanomami, Spirit of the Forest" (2003). Three narrative threads tie this exhibition together. Firstly, trees as we know them, then the aesthetic observation of trees and lastly, the devastation of trees as visualized through documentary film and pictorial testimony. The Brazilian artist, Luiz Zerbini, explores the blunt force with which urbanism defiles the world's natural environment. Stefano Mancuso will speak on the intelligence and awareness of plant life as it communicates and interacts with its surroundings. This exhibition of purposeful unity will remind change makers that trees are they are the lungs of our suffocating world and they are at risk of never breathing at full capacity again.

The event will run from July 12th to November 10th at 261, Boulevard Raspail, Paris, The Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art.

Il Sarcofago di Spitzmaus e altri Tesori

Museums are places of knowledge. Each piece on display has been meticulously studied and analyzed before experts categorized it according to the right origins and time period. Just as the academic research on different civilizations is largely separated, each time period belongs to a separate collection within a museum.

With ‘Il Sarcofago di Spitzmaus e altri Tesori’, translating into ‘Spitzmaus Mummy in a Coffin and Other Treasures’, the Fondazione Prada, in collaboration with the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, takes a less academic approach to the museum and its traditional methods of display. The task of curation is realized by film director Wes Anderson and illustrator, designer and writer Juman Malouf. Unconcerned with time periods and chronological accuracy, the two artists have access to 23 different collections belonging to two different museums, the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna. Together, both artists selected 537 artworks and artefacts from over 5000 years of human history and showcase them alongside one another. Their interdisciplinary approach at times reveals unexpected parallels and resonances between the works and directly challenges traditional museum canons. The exhibition is titled after Coffin of a Spitzmaus, an Egyptian wooden box containing a mummified shrew from the 4th century BC.

After the display in Vienna, the exhibition moves to exhibition space of the Fondazione Prada in Milan. The Milan display is a second version with a larger display area and a greater number of exhibits. Alongside the exhibition, the Fondazione Prada publishes an artist’s book, which inspired by Duchamp’s Boîte-en-valise, elaborates the idea of the portable museum.

The exhibition ‘Il Sarcofago di Spitzmaus e altri Tesori’ is open to the public from the 20th of September 2019 until the 13th of January 2020 at the Fondazione Prada in Milan. www.fondazioneprada.org

Art

David Zwirner at Art Basel

It is hard to imagine that any of the founding members knew what Art Basel would evolve into. Art Basel kept growing year-by-year, adding the new locations of Miami and Hong Kong, to eventually become the world-leading art fair. Their shows do not only connect collectors and galleries with established and emerging artists alike, but also offer the broad masses a glimpse into an otherwise opaque art world.

David Zwirner has witnessed Art Basel’s development as the gallery returns to Basel for the twenty-first consecutive year. For this year’s edition of Unlimited, the spotlight falls on Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ complete set of puzzles created between 1987 and 1992, Kerry James Marshall’s RYTHM MASTR Daily Strip (Runners), previously featured at the 2018 Carnegie International and Franz West’s interactive installation of sofas clad in colorful fabrics, on show for the first time since debuting in 1994.

Besides showcasing new works of a variety of artists, other highlights presented at the booth include new paintings by Njideka Akunyili Crosby, featured at Venice Biennale and Oscar Murillo, who was just nominated for the Turner Prize 2019.

In addition to this, David Zwirner announced the launch of Basel Online. Available from June 10th, this Online Viewing Room is David Zwirner’s digital exhibition space, offering visitors the possibility to explore new works by gallery artists as well as curated online-only exhibitions and special collaborations.

Art Basel will be open to the public from 13th to 16th of June at Messe Basel.

Exhibition Brigitte Waldach

German artist Brigitte Waldach has gained national and international reputation over the last few years due to her large format drawings and installations. She creates pieces that exceed the two-dimensional canvas, combining bands and strings, drawings, sounds and text into a multi-sensual experience. The installation EXISTENZ, making use of the interplay of bands and strings, creates an interconnection between her works and elevates them to a new dimension.

Famous for her work on existential and sociopolitical subjects, the dynamic tangle of strings represent the relations between time and space, life and death as well as individuality and collective. Having found inspiration in the thinking and work of Felix Nussbaum, his presence and words become ever-present, at times through personal words or letters or through reference to key moments in his life, so closely tied with fate of the German Jewish community in the 20th century.

The exhibition showcases the artist’s combination of notions of the past and present with biographical components. The exhibition is open until the 10th of November in the Felix-Nussbaum-Haus in Osnarbrück.

Art

Aneta Bartos: Family Portrait 2014-2018

With her first solo exhibition Family Portrait 2014-2018 at Tommy Simoens Gallery in Antwerpen, Polish-born photographer Aneta Bartos offered a first cohesive overview of her ongoing project, which has been four years in the making.

Daughter of a lifelong bodybuilder, the photographer offers an insight into her psyche formed by an unusually liberal upbringing, surrounded by nudeness in an otherwise stern Catholic environment. Each photograph features her own ageing father, caught in his obsession with the perfect physique, as well as herself, the daughter, now as a grown woman intensely aware of her own sexuality.

The exhibition highlights the complex dynamics of this very personal relationship, displaying a fa-ther and a daughter sometimes close, but also so far apart that they are seemingly invisible to each other.

The personal feel is not limited to the photographic work but is supported by the installation itself, which features bodybuilding equipment transported from the father’s gym in Poland.

The exhibition is extended until 18th of May at Tommy Simoens Gallery in Antwerpen.

Autonomous Intimacy

Every house is unique and has therefore its very own autonomous intimacy. It has an atmosphere that emerges out of a few characteristic factors; the place where it is situated, the people who live in that house, and their specific interests are aspects that create a certain interior. Rugstar decided to delve deeper into these autonomous spheres to find out more about the underlying influences of houses and how Rugstar’s carpets became part of their very own intimate interior.

Starting in Berlin, one of the most eccentric cities of Europe with a very autonomous identity.18 interiors styled by Rugstar were shot by Local photographer Michael Tewes. Each picture tells the home its intimate individual story. The setting appeals to your imagination about the people, their relationship and their lives that largely take place here. Berlin is a very open-minded city and also the people who live here have largely incorporated this thought into their personal environments. Styles are provocatively combined with each other and produce fascinating compositions that create a layered and profound story about what is going on inside these walls. Rugstar’s beautiful rugs are off course leading and add an individual element to each interior with themes like Adam & Eve, The Garden of Eden, and many more.

The second city is Portland, one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the world with a very urban lifestyle. Photographer Laurie Black based in Portland took Rugstar to all the different kinds of homes in this very green metropolitan. Classic, authentic interiors are embellished with carpets containing graphic natural animal and plant prints executed in soft colors. These prints embody the Portland lifestyle wherein nature is fully coalesced with the urban city life. The inhabitants here have found a way to create an intimate urban design place that honors nature to the fullest.

The intimacy project is an expression of love for personal stories and through which inspirations they came about. In exchange for these, the Rugstar team will cook and share their vision about styling, designing and craftsmanship. Next stop: Beijing! Are you ready to share your autonomous story?

ELECTRIC CO - RE-Couture

Enchanted by clear pencil lines that tell more… Designer Conny Groenewegen captures her imagination into spatial drawings that make you almost part of it. The boundaries between 2D and 3D are a continuing signature in her art.

With a background in Art and Fashion, specifically knitting, she created a special relationship with interlocking loops coming from one continuous thread. When you make another manoeuvre, the pattern breaks. In conclusion: “you cannot impose or force anything without causing damage.” This theory turned into a philosophical approach for Groenewegen that resulted into the Fashion Machine-project; a suggestion to reconsider fixed archetypal forms. By changing forms, textures, materials and settings, new interesting insights appear and create another perspective to redefine the type.

The ELECTRIC CO artwork is a creation of a plastic monofilament that carries a rigid knitted structure in combination with softer, woollen yarns. The constructed 3D element emphasizes the upper body’s muscle contours and re-codes. At the same time the archetypal shapes of classical sweaters and bomber jackets accommodate ELECTRIC CO’s vibrant dynamics > electricco.co.

Photographer Anouk van Kalmthout photographed the artwork and created a mystifying universe. The picturesque, colorful and especially abstract landscapes give a dreamy feeling which impersonates this association of free interpretation. The lively use of light and shadow in fusion with the disorienting perspective gives this artwork a free sense to express. These photographs are an infinite vision full of the world’s fortuitous.

Posthumous Exhibition in London and Paris Celebrating the Life and Work of Franz West

Franz West is widely known and revered for his 40-year career that features notable highlights such as his series of Adaptives in the 1970s, his Lemur-Heads scattered around Vienna as well as his use of unconventional materials in building furniture and his famously colourful work with paper mache.

Franz’s work requires us to take his hand and accept his invitation to actively engage with the art. For Franz, the meaning is not some ungraspable, floating figment in the ether. Rather the meaning is what we decide to grant to it and is the various experiences that are evoked upon our direct, personal interaction with the given piece. It is precisely this mirroring of the external that makes Franz’s work so inclusionary and what absolves him from any dangerous accusations of elitism or pretention. We are the essential, necessary final piece of the puzzle. Our realisations, our relationship and our connection with the pieces are paramount and take priority focus – how we respond, what we evoke, what we discover.

Franz is renowned for his light-hearted, open, playful and at times humorous quality paired with an underlying deeply introspective and subtly philosophical approach, driven largely by an understanding and respect of the free man to enjoy leisure and not always be so as Franz himself put it ‘deadly earnest.’

Vivacious, vibrant and interactive, this exhibition invites us to celebrate the extraordinary life and lively work of Franz West – to touch, to wear, to handle and to open yourself up to a rare and inclusionary experience of art as you have never had before.

The multi-faceted Austrian artist Franz West’s life and work (1947-2012) is posthumously celebrated as part of a major exhibition taking place at The Tate Modern, London and the Centre Pompidou, Paris from the 20th February to the 2nd June 2019.

Fondazione Prada Presents “Slight Agitation 3/4: Gelitin”

“Slight Agitation” is a four part-project of newly commisioned, site-specific works hosted within the Cisterna of the Milan venue of Fondazione Prada. The third chapter of this exhibition project is an instalment by the Austrian collective Gelitin and called “Slight Agitation 3/4: Gelitin”. The project, titled POKALYPSEA-APOKALYPSE-OKALYPSEAP, features three large sculptures, which explicitly address classical architectural archetypes: the triumphal arch, the obelisk and the amphitheater. These rhetoric and monumental components are symbols as much as structures conceived for everyday inhabitation. The sculptures draw an arc from the insular and individual to the open-ended and collective, from the overtly erotic to the sublimated joy of togetherness. The central space of the Cisterna is occupied by Arc de Triomphe (2003/2017), which is a reproduction of an elephant-high male figure, bending over backwards, made of plasticine.

The presence of a fully functioning water fountain transforms the exhibition space into a collective one, manifesting Gelitin’s liberating artistic approach. In the left side of the space, another gigantic sculpture, made up of polystyrene blocks, resembles a typical Inuit construction or a cigarette on top of a big table. The third sculpture, a wooden upward spiral, is reminiscent of an antique amphitheater. Visitors can enter the sculpture and are even invited to smoke a cigarette in the center of the installation. This banal act makes them instant protagonists of a short, ephemeral act that positions itself, according to Gelitin, somewhere between Samuel Beckett’s Theater of the Absurd and a karaoke performance. The exhibition will be open until the 26th of February 2018.

Museo del Novecento and Fondazione Furla present Simone Forti: To Play the Flute

Museo del Novecento and Fondazione Furla present Simone Forti: To Play the Flute – a selection of performances by this Italian-born American artist, choreographer and dancer that will fill the Museo del Novecento’s Sala Fontana with sound and movement for three days.

This marks the first event of the Furla Series #01 – Time after Time, Space after Space, a performance- centred program that will feature five events from five different artists with varying backgrounds, influences and approaches to this form of expression.

Simone Forti, has been a leading figure in postmodern dance for over fifty years and has helped shaped the landscape of contemporary dance with performances that range from minimalist movement to improvisations that also featured spoken word. To Play the Flute is a reenactment of four seminal performance moments in Forti’s career that highlights her approach to the interplay of actions and objects, and they key role assigned to sound.

Forti’s famous Dance Constructions – now part of New York’s MoMa permanent collection – served as the foundation of her solid reputation in the 60’s art world thanks to her innovative ways of experimenting with the language of movement. The performances rethink the relationship between body and object, movement and sculpture, rules and improvisation and are based on everyday movements or interactions with objects. Personal expression and improvisation always appear to be hampered by the effort required to carry out a given physical task or follow certain rules.

The first Time after Time, Space after Space event will take place on the 21st to the 23rd of September in the Sala Fontana of Milan’s Novecento Museum. The program for Time after Time, Space after Space will include four more events featuring artists from around the world, at bimonthly intervals: Alexandra Bachzetsis (November 2017), Adelita Husni-Bey (January 2018), Paulina Olowska (March 2018) and Christian Marclay (April 2018)

Fendi pays homage to Rome with Giuseppe Penone's Foglie di Pietra

Following Giuseppe Penone’s Matrice exhibition hosted at Fendi’s headquarters in Rome’s Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, Fendi installs a new site specific artwork by the artist entitled Foglie di Pietra in Largo Goldoni. Thus, FENDI renews and highlights its undying bond with Rome by gifting the city and its people important artwork from one of the most celebrated contemporary sculptors.

Foglie di Petra (Leaves of Stone, 2016) is one of Penone’s most complex artworks: two tall bronze trees standing at 18 and 9 metres respectively, interlace their branches five metres above an 11-tonne sculpted marble rock. Archaeology and ruins, history and biology are intertwined with one another bringing attention to the permanent bond between nature and culture. A celebration of a deep synthesis between the flowing of natural and human time through a longing and romantic nostalgia for lost civilisations.

Through virtuous use of precious materials such as bronze and marble, Penone’s Foglie di Petra recalls the illusionism and marvel of Roman Baroque, while the fragments and the ruins inserted in the sculpture’s branches harken back to the Classic and Medieval era. What’s more, the artwork is the first oeuvre of a contemporary artist to be permanently installed in Rome’s public spaces and is bound to become a symbol of the identity of an ever-changing city that remains steadfastly linked to its historical roots.www.fendi.com

Art

The world through Henk Schiffmacher’s “camereyes”

When Texas, Henk Schffmacher's daughter discovered her father's old 35mm negatives in a dusty drawer, she knew they had to be exposed for the world to see.

Dutch tattoo artist, Henk Schiffmacher has become known for his energetic and observational photographic work that is now being collected and exhibited for the first time ever. Highlighting the best and worst facets of modern society, this eclectic ensemble of pictures is a real representation of the world we live in through Schiffmacher's camera.

Taken between 1970 and 1985 these pictures give us a raw insight into the world of youths, bikers and tattoo fetishists from all around the globe – from Las Vegas, L.A., Amsterdam, and Tokyo to Mumbai, Manila, San Francisco and Kuala Lumpur.

This makes for an interesting juxtaposition: a wild mix of cultures, nationalities and excess against the backdrop of vintage cityscapes and timeless scenarios. Schiffmacher's photography offers a unique and brilliant view of the world as it was four decades ago.

Jorinde Voigt: ‘Immersion’

Open Studio Berlin, members from the publishing house, Hatje Cantz and dozens of art lovers will gather tonight at the König Gallery to celebrate the launch of Jorinde Voigt’s new art book, ‘Immersion’. The book is a study of how intuition provides the framework for immersion, her nuances of text in an image with so much complexity in shape guides the eye and results in a better understanding of the art itself. In her new cycle of works, Immersion, artist Jorinde Voigt invigorates her on-going study of perception. Lena Kiessler of Hatje Cantz will be moderating the book release to properly celebrate the start of the eighth Berlin Art Week.

The book launch will take place across a number of countries but it will be honored in its vitality by a select few fine art institutions. The launch of ‘Immersion’ spans from Berlin to Houston Texas, where another release party will occur at Menil Drawing Institute. After teaching the art of conceptual drawing at Munich’s Academy of Fine Arts since 2014, Voigt felt it was only right that she pass on her refined understanding of shape and intuition. By Repeatedly feeling out her own thematic strengths, revisiting themes that reoccured in her art Voigt details and seemingly annotates her work for our benefit. When art captures our attention, holds our gaze, we often wonder what it was that really had that effect, with the launch of ‘Immersion’ this is exactly what Jorinde Voigt brings us closer to understanding

Duran Lantink: 'Old Stock'

The top floors of Utrecht’s Centraal Museum are taken over by Dutch fashion designer Duran Lantink, to recycle, repurpose and reimagine discarded designer fabrics. The 31-year-old designer, named after the Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán, calls his exhibition ‘Old Stock’. The solo exhibition follows Duran Lantink’s aesthetic journey along a path he paved for himself between fashion and art. Where does this path lead? It leads toward a world that wastes nothing and celebrates everything.

Praised as being one of fashion’s best up and coming talents at this year’s London Fashion Week, Lantink a variety of garments, all of which have his vigorous craftsmanship about them. The Centraal Museum is making sure Lantink has all the room to breathe he needs, allowing him to take over the top floors to better display his versatility and imagination.

‘Old Stock’ is divided into thirds, photography, an installation called ‘Straight From the Sales Bin’ and lastly ‘Dismantled’. “Sistaaz of the Castle”, the photo series, was started by Lantink three years ago with Jan Hoek and a transsexual workers organization known as ‘Sistaazhood’. They shadowed transsexual sex workers as they flaunted proudly around Cape Town. ‘Straight From the Sales Bin’ is Lantink’s way of distancing himself from the chain of destruction that sees unsold clothes burned, discarded or shredded.

As for ‘Dismantled’, Duran Lantink’s freedom of expression is a beacon to designers and artists the world over. Centraal Museum has horded designer clothing, dresses they chose not to display, that served no real purpose other than gathering dust until Lantink intervened, these stagnant garments are now reanimated and born again for the world to see. Regardless of the whether you perceive Duran as the Freddy Krueger of fashion or the edgy prodigal son that Dutch fashion sorely needed, one thing remains certain, this never resting creative mind has nowhere to go but up.

Mike Meiré: North-West

Mike Meiré found the inspiration for his newest solo exhibition NORTH-WEST in today’s North America. Always perceived as a place of freedom and endless opportunity, the continent today has become a place of contradictions caught between reality and idealism, departure and exclusion, progress and fatality. With his work, the German artist, designer and art director addresses the romanticised ideas surrounding the American Dream whilst at the same time confirming their very failure, making NORTH-WEST a metaphorical search for updated notions of freedom and identity.

Alongside ceramics, the show will present paintings from Meiré’s ongoing series CAR TIRE PAINTINGS. Central to this series is its performative component, the tyre hoovers over the canvas before it is slammed down by the artist and the few seconds between control and loss of control which define the unique outcome of each work. The conscious choice of the standardized tyre signals towards the achievements of modern life and the purposeful and functional design of the globalised consumer world.

NORTH-WEST will be open to the public by appointment only from July 28, 2019 until September 6, 2019 at Von Bartha in S-chanf.

In Conversation with... David LaChapelle

Reflex Gallery in Amsterdam created the series In Conversation With… in order to offer the showcased artists’ another platform to share their personal vision and background information on their work. In the fourth installment, the focus is on photographer David LaChapelle, who is currently exhibiting Act Of Nature at the gallery.

David LaChapelle rose to fame due to his unique vision and distinct aesthetic. Especially thanks to his celebrity portraits, David LaChapelle is considered one of the most important photographers of the century. His third exhibition at Reflex includes highlights from the past ten years alongside a selection of previously unseen work, on show for the first time in Amsterdam.

Throughout the interview, David LaChapelle offers an insight into his approach to photography and discusses how the challenges of a natural setting have influenced his way of working. In his work, LaChapelle tries to capture and share his imagination of paradise and the deep connection between humans and nature that sparked this idea. Alongside the exhibition, a publication of Act of Nature, containing an essay by author and art writer Katya Tylevich, will be available in Reflex Amsterdam.

Holland Festival

Art is an essential and indispensable part of life. The value of art oftentimes exceeds creative expression and broadens our horizons by influencing and enriching our world view. Artists take a central role in today's society, crossing borders, collaborating worldwide across many disciplines and never shying away from sensitive subjects or deep messages.

The 72nd edition of the Holland Festival transforms the city of Amsterdam into an international cultural hub, celebrating the diversity of artists and their work all around the city. Perhaps more than before, a platform is provided to the artists, coming from Chile, Colombia, Germany and the United States among others, to bring pleasure to a broad audience, just as diverse as themselves. For the first time, this year a special focus is on associate artists, South African artist William Kentridge and Congolese Faustin Linyekula. Throughout the festival special prominence is given to their new works, exploring the inspiration, themes and ambitions.

The program includes a number of disciplines from the visual arts to theater and opera.

The Holland Festival, taking place all across Amsterdam, starts today and will last until June 23th.

About Future: Architecture, Cities, Environment. Models and Visions

With the creation of Armani/Silos, Giorgio Armani has continuously supported young creatives to realise their visions and ideas. After initiatives in the fields of fashion, cinema and photography, the focus has shifted towards architecture, deemed to be a crucial discipline in our reflections tackling pressing questions of sustainability and social equality in a rapidly changing world.
In the run-up to Milano Arch Week 2019, the ‘About Future’ project is launched in collaboration with the School of Architecture, Urban Planning and Construction Engineering of the Polytechnic University of Milan. This exhibition features the work, in form of drawings and models, of around 50 of its brightest students, working on new ways and innovative visions to redefine the balance between the artificial and natural. The presented projects are a mixture of proposed modifications or extensions of existing features or the creation of

Art

Exhibition ‘Into the Light’

SR CONTERMPORARY ART Gallery opens its new exhibition for the Gallery Weekend in Berlin. The exhibition features the work of portrait and fashion photographer Tom Jacobi, who travelled two years over seven continents to capture archaic landscapes that are dominated by brightness.

Into the Light symbolises the striving towards light from out the darkness, in search for the meaning of life, gazing up towards the sun that fills with the brightest of all colors: white. White occupies a particular position in the spectrum of colors and has an essential influence and meaning in the exhibition and how the color is interpreted in different societies and cultures.

The exhibition will run from the 11th of April to the 20th of May at SR CONTEMPORARY ART.

Jimmy Nelson’s ‘Homage to Humanity’

Jimmy Nelson is part of a rare breed of photographers that throw themselves face-first into any environment they are shooting. The largest exhibition of Nelson’s work in the Netherlands will take place at the Museum Aan Het Vrijthof in Maastricht later this month.The English-Dutch photographer is known across the globe for his iconic books 'Before They Pass Away' (2013) and 'Homage to Humanity' (2018). Nelson sees emergent technologies and increased globalization as a threat to the preservation of the most vulnerable colonies within the human race. At the ethos of the exhibition are questions like “where do we originate from?”, “where are we going?” and “what is wealth?”. Questions so often neglected by more political minds, and so we are left looking to artists and photographers like Jimmy Nelson.

In addition to interactive 360 degree visualisations there will be an extensive alternative program specifically aimed at young people. This side program ensures the youth might truly see what is at stake, that they might care more for faraway places that is home to so many. The unique communities of Africa and Asia that appear in Nelson’s thirty-plus years of photography speak to a purity of Earthly existence that grows in rarity every day. With the core values of his photography in mind, the Jimmy Nelson Foundation seeks to generate a greater appreciation for cultural diversity and the urgency of unity.

‘Homage to Humanity’ will be held at Museum Aan Het Vrijthof from September 26th until March 15th 2020.

Existenz

The Nussbaum Haus, built by architect Daniel Libeskind, dedicated to artist Felix Nussbaum in Osnabrück presents the spatial drawing “Existenz” of artist Brigitte Waldach. The installation gives the spirit of German-Jewish surrealist painter Felix Nussbaum an unexpected rebirth. His art gives an artistic insight into the life of one individual among the victims of the Holocaust. He was that individual itself who lived for a long time in fear of Nazi terror, a fear that has always characterized his work.

Waldach's spatial drawing embodies the center of existence in a distorted cube. With frightened excerpts and thoughts in the background coming from letters written by Felix Nussbaum.

The space expresses the "Raum für Gegenwart", which means the room of existence. Every wall illustrates a component of existence. On the wall of the "brain" the star of David is portrayed. This immediately recalls the gruesome persecutions, but for millennia this “star” has represented a spiritual unity. Waldach emphasizes this idea with white and black lines that merge and mirror the visible and invisible world of a fearful life. Through it weaves a red thread that reflects the lifeline of Nussbaum. A line that indicates how the fate of a young Jewish artist led to atrocious persecution.

This artwork is an ode to Nussbaum, but at the same time it is also an analysis of the life cycle. The individual circle of life is characterized by the endless creation and passing of different stages of activity. Between birth and death we experience situations of departure, separation, isolation, doubt and the constant presence of existential fear. The course of a life is a line of actions and reactions that an individual experiences.

Ulay's Exhibition at Richard Saltoun, London

The very nature of Ulay’s art inadvertently resists all attempts at classification and defies categorisation. A self-proclaimed anarchist, Ulay’s work spans multiple platforms and offers a stark exploration of the dichotomy between the masculine and the feminine, exploring the fluidity of the self and the constant potential for transformation and experimentation with new identities. Ulay is one of our long-time favourite artists with whom we have previously had the incredible honour to work with on two separate projects.

From an early affection for the fleeting, transient and instantaneous process of the Polaroid to a traceable crossover in utilising the physical form through performance and body art, it is strikingly evident that the single common thread of Ulay’s work is awareness — in the obvious performative, physical sense of course but also in his social commentary.

Ulay’s unyielding lifetime commitment to dismantling and subverting the roots of complex themes of identity, particularly gender, by tackling the harmful human conflicts that arise from externally enforced notions of identity through his unprecedented format, are what have comfortably established his status as a true icon of polaroid photography and as the father of performance art.

From 11th January – 23 February 2019, the Richard Saltoun Gallery in London will host its first solo exhibition of Ulay’s work dating back to the 1970s and progressing right through to new works exhibited in public for the first time.

Mystical Symbolism: The Salon de la Rose + Croix in Paris

Mysterious, mythical and visionary themes, often drawn from literature, will be presented by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in an exhibition called “Magical Symbolism: The Salon de la Rose + Croix in Paris”. It’s the first museum exhibition showing the highlights of a series of Salons, which were annually held in Paris from 1892 to 1897. At these art gatherings, images of femmes fragiles and fatales, androgynous creatures, chimeras, incubi and sinuous lines, attenuated figures and anti-naturalistic forms were the norm. Including approximately forty works by a cross section of artists, the possibility to take a fresh look at the legacies of late nineteenth-century symbolist art is provided. The exhibition is taking place until January 7th 2018 at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice.

POWERMASK: Walter van Beirendonk at the Wereldmuseum

From the 1st of September 2017 until the 7th of January 2018, the ethnographic Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam will host POWERMASK, an exhibition curated by Antwerp fashion designer Walter van Beirendonck. The exhibition is a journey through the deeply symbolic, totemic and patrimonial world of masks, an often underrated accessory in contemporary fashion. Van Beirendonck has incorporated masks into his fashion collections since the 1990s, sourcing inspiration from André Breton, Pablo Picasso and Pieter Bruegel’s caricatural portraits.

The exhibition will examine links between Western art and African masks, the supernatural rituals surrounding masks, masks in fashion, masks as fetishes, and numerous other aspects. Van Beirendonck has styled the 125 masks, unpacked from the Wereldmuseum’s archive, with colorful costumes and fashion silhouettes. The backdrop of the exhibition is a delightful patchwork of wall installations by contemporary artists such as Brian Kenny, Coco Fronsac and Charles Fréger, macabre paintings of James Ensor, playful illustrations by Keith Haring, and designs by haute couture heavyweights Viktor & Rolf and Jean Paul Gaultier.

The Beats and The Vanities, Larry Fink Exhibition at Armani/SIlos

A collection of exquisite black and white photographs from Larry Fink’s The Beats and The Vanities books will comprise the latest exhibition at Armani/Silos. The exhibition presents a unique opportunity for the legendary photographer’s work and idiosyncratic vision to be experienced as one as they have never before been shown together before.

Giorgio Armani himself is a great fan of Larry Fink’s work, finding his ability to capture form and line in such a fluid way something he can relate to as well as a designer. “Fink is a jazz fan, and you can almost view these images in terms of musical composition – people in flow, surprising us, possessing an unconscious sensuality”, he adds.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in a progressive and politically active family, Fink cut his teeth as a photographer as part of the late beat generation, when he hooked up with a group of beats at the age of 17. Political activism, protests and marches formed the photographers worldview who documented the times through his medium-format camera.

His pictures serve as a time capsule and a candid look into his world, perfectly capturing the sense of romance and rebellion that characterised the underground jazz-fuelled youth movement of the time. A regular editorial contributor for prestigious titles such as The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, it was the latter that recognised his ability to bring them something different if let loose to create.

His visual record of the famous and their surrounding courtiers is not concerned with who’s who – rather it focuses on what’s happening. As Fink himself describes it, he tries to embrace the souls of all people, regardless of their conditions.

The Beats and The Vanities, Photographs by Larry Fink will be on show at the Armani/Silos until the end of July 2017.